Famous names called during NFL Europa Free Agent Draft
February 26, 2007 - National Football League Europa (NFLE) News Release
Two former NFL starters were among 134 promising young players chosen by the six NFL Europa League teams during Friday's free agent draft.
Running back QUENTIN GRIFFIN and wide receiver RASHAUN WOODS will suit up for the Hamburg Sea Devils this spring after being chosen in the first and fifth rounds, respectively.
Griffin was a fourth-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos in 2003. He started five games for the Broncos from 2003-04, rushing for 656 yards and two touchdowns before suffering a knee injury. He rushed for 3,756 yards and 44 touchdowns during a stellar college career at Oklahoma.
Woods, who was chosen by the San Francisco 49ers in 2004, becomes the sixth former NFL first-round draft pick to play in NFL Europa.
Following are the NFL first-round draft picks to play in the NFL Europa League:
Name Pos NFL Team NFL Europa Team
Rashaun Woods WR San Francisco 2004 Hamburg 2007
Akili Smith QB Cincinnati 1999 Frankfurt 2005
Andre Ware QB Detroit 1990 Berlin 1999
Gaston Green RB LA Rams 1988 London 1996
William Perry DT Chicago 1985 London 1996
Percy Snow LB Kansas City 1990 Rhein 1996
Woods caught seven passes for 160 yards and one touchdown as a rookie in San Francisco. He was a Big 12 record-setter at Oklahoma State, where he caught 293 passes for 4,414 yards and 42 touchdowns.
The Berlin Thunder kicked off the free agent draft by selecting Nicholls State cornerback CHRIS THOMPSON, who played 12 games for the Chicago Bears in 2005, recording 10 tackles as a member of LOVIE SMITH's defense.
After Hamburg grabbed Griffin with the second overall pick, the Cologne Centurions chose South Carolina guard JON ALSTON. The Rhein Fire also took an offensive lineman with their first pick as they snapped up Auburn tackle TROY REDDICK.
The Amsterdam Admirals selected defensive lineman MARCUS WEST, who was a two-year starter and All-Conference USA award-winner at Memphis.
Closing out the first round, the Frankfurt Galaxy chose linebacker ZAC WOODFIN, who saw action with the Baltimore Ravens in 2005. The University of Alabama-Birmingham graduate also boasts practice squad experience with the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers.
There were also several names familiar to fans in Europe as NFLEL head coaches either protected or drafted stars from previous campaigns.
Amsterdam protected two key offensive performers in running back LARRY CROOM and offensive tackle MARKO CAVKA. Croom, who was a starter for the Arizona Cardinals in 2004, rushed for a team-high 427 yards and six touchdowns last spring. Cavka started every game on the league's top-ranked offense.
Cologne added depth to its tight end position with the drafting of BOBBY BLIZZARD, who caught 34 passes for 335 yards and two touchdowns as a member of the 2005 Sea Devils.
Frankfurt moved to bolster its defense with the protection of key free agents in linebacker MATT SINCLAIR and cornerback BILL ALFORD. In leading the Galaxy to World Bowl success in 2006, Sinclair recorded 49 tackles and 3.0 sacks, while Alford added 34 stops and four passes defensed.
Hamburg will welcome back 2005 All-NFL Europa League safety SHAWN MAYER, who also played for the team in 2006, while Rhein protected the defensive end pairing of DERRICK STRONG and ZACH VILLE that combined for 7.0 sacks a year ago. Strong was named to the 2006 All-NFL Europa League team.
PROTECTED FREE AGENT PLAYERS (Protected players counted against 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th round picks in the NFLEL Free Agent Draft)
NFLEL team First Name Last Name Pos College
Amsterdam Marko Cavka T Sacramento State
Amsterdam Larry Croom RB UNLV
Amsterdam Abraham Elimimian CB Hawaii
Amsterdam Ben Hall TE Clemson
Cologne Tyler King DE Connecticut
Frankfurt Bill Alford CB Vanderbilt
Frankfurt Justin Brown DE East Central University
Frankfurt Charles Missant C Western Michigan
Frankfurt Matt Sinclair LB Illinois
Hamburg Byron Hardmon LB Florida
Hamburg Shawn Mayer S Penn State
Rhein Derrick Strong DE Illinois
Rhein Zach Ville DE Missouri
FREE AGENT DRAFT 2007
Round NFLEL Team First Name Last Name Pos College
1 Berlin Chris Thompson CB Nicholls State
1 Hamburg Quentin Griffin RB Oklahoma
1 Cologne Jon Alston G South Carolina
1 Rhein Troy Reddick T Auburn
1 Amsterdam Marcus West DE Memphis
1 Frankfurt Zac Woodfin LB Alabama-Birmingham
2 Berlin Lauvale Sape DT Utah
2 Hamburg Michael Harden CB Missouri
2 Cologne George Gause DE South Carolina
2 Rhein Wally Dada CB Washington State
2 Amsterdam Norman Heuer DT Michigan
2 Frankfurt Edorian McCullough CB Texas
3 Frankfurt David Jones TE Lousiana State
3 Amsterdam Tim Jones DE South Florida
3 Rhein Jesse Boone C Utah
3 Cologne Cedrick Holt CB North Carolina
3 Hamburg Cliff Washburn T Citadel
3 Berlin Seante Williams DE Jacksonville State
4 Berlin Jabari Levey T South Carolina
4 Hamburg Gary Gibson DT Rutgers
4 Cologne C.J. Brooks G Maryland
4 Rhein Aaron Harris LB Texas
4 Amsterdam Jacob Elimimian CB San Diego State
4 Frankfurt Craig Bailey LB Nevada
5 Frankfurt Ben Sobieski G Iowa
5 Amsterdam Tanuvasa Moe LB Hawaii
5 Rhein Erik Jensen TE Iowa
5 Cologne Bobby Blizzard TE North Carolina
5 Hamburg Rashaun Woods WR Oklahoma State
5 Berlin Chris Harrell CB Penn State
6 Berlin Matt Henshaw TE Florida State
6 Hamburg Marcus Lawrence LB South Carolina
6 Cologne A.J. Harris RB Northern Illinois
6 Rhein DeJuan Skinner T West Texas A&M
6 Amsterdam Sameeh McDonald T Rutgers
6 Frankfurt Brandon Middleton WR Houston
7 Frankfurt Bobby Harris T Mississippi
7 Amsterdam Deandre Eiland S South Carolina
7 Rhein Calvin Carlyle S Oregon State
7 Cologne Devan Long DE Oregon
7 Hamburg Bryan Watje TE San Jose State
7 Berlin Steve Paris S Iowa State
8 Berlin Damien Rhodes RB Syracuse
8 Hamburg Vernell Brown CB Florida
8 Cologne Kellen Davis T Oklahoma State
8 Rhein Ryan Hoffman DE Shippenberg State
8 Amsterdam Donovan Raiola C Wisconsin
8 Frankfurt Robert Ortiz WR San Diego State
9 Frankfurt Kyle Killion LB Indiana
9 Amsterdam Jordan Hicks DE Abilene Christian
9 Rhein Scott Farley S Williams
9 Cologne Rod Olds C Jacksonville State
9 Hamburg Mike Pinkard TE Arizona State
9 Berlin Keon Raymond CB Middle Tennessee
10 Berlin Quartez Vickerson DT Grand Valley State
10 Hamburg Javon Nanton DE Miami
10 Cologne Martin Patterson LB Texas Christian
10 Rhein Earvin Johnson TE UNLV
10 Amsterdam Sam McGrew LB Florida State
10 Frankfurt Josh Sewell C Nebraska
11 Frankfurt Bill Alford CB Vanderbilt
11 Amsterdam Marko Cavka T Sacramento State
11 Rhein Derrick Strong DE Illinois
11 Cologne Tyler King DE Connecticut
11 Hamburg Byron Hardmon LB Florida
11 Berlin Steven Vieira G UCLA
12 Berlin Samario Houston LB Catawba
12 Hamburg Shawn Mayer S Penn State
12 Cologne Ernest Jones DT Tennessee State
12 Rhein Zach Ville DE Missouri
12 Amsterdam Larry Croom RB UNLV
12 Frankfurt Justin Brown DE East Central University
13 Frankfurt Charles Missant C Western Michigan
13 Amsterdam Abraham Elimimian CB Hawaii
13 Rhein Brennan Schmidt DT Virginia
13 Cologne Mario Hill WR Mississippi
13 Hamburg Nick Hagemann T South Dakota
13 Berlin Jameel Dumas LB Syracuse
14 Berlin Jay McCareins CB Princeton
14 Hamburg Michael Ford CB Duquesne
14 Cologne Jon Simmons DE South Florida
14 Rhein Jimmy Dixon FB Georgia Tech
14 Amsterdam Ben Hall TE Clemson
14 Frankfurt Matt Sinclair LB Illinois
15 Frankfurt Charles Anthony RB Tennessee State
15 Amsterdam Lawrence Pinson LB Oklahoma State
15 Rhein Chris Hawkins CB Marshall
15 Cologne Kenton Johnson T Georgia Tech
15 Hamburg Tony Hollings RB Georgia Tech
15 Berlin Robin Meadow T Washington
16 Berlin Sha-Ron Edwards RB Illinois State
16 Hamburg Thomas Smith DT Pittsburgh
16 Cologne Burl Toler WR Cal-Berkley
16 Rhein Taylor Schmidt C San Diego State
16 Amsterdam Greg Carothers LB Washington
16 Frankfurt Ron Rockett S Wyoming
17 Frankfurt Raymond Washington CB Fresno State
17 Amsterdam Larry Dibbles DT Texas
17 Rhein Steve Franklin G Syracuse
17 Cologne Victor Phillips CB Southern
17 Hamburg Justin Jenkins WR Mississippi State
17 Berlin Bernard Opoku S Jacksonville
18 Berlin Bobby Payne DE Middle Tennessee
18 Hamburg Adam O'Connor G William & Mary
18 Cologne Jamar Enzor LB Cincinnati
18 Rhein Michael Franklin RB San Diego State
18 Amsterdam Phil Hawkins G Houston
18 Frankfurt Chris Laskowski S Florida Atlantic
19 Frankfurt Kellen Pruitt LB Syracuse
19 Amsterdam Wendell Hunter LB California-Berkley
19 Rhein Jeff Green DE Florida A&M
19 Cologne Mike Douglas TE Massachusetts
19 Hamburg Robert Durham CB Tuskegee
19 Berlin Daniel Martz C Alabama
20 Berlin Jason Flowers CB Toledo
20 Hamburg Jason Peterson DE North Dakota
20 Cologne Antwann Carter RB Boise State
20 Rhein Quentin Swain LB Florida Atlantic
20 Amsterdam Cole Downer TE Clemson
20 Frankfurt Roscoe Crosby WR Clemson
21 Frankfurt Felton Huggins WR Southeastern Louisiana
21 Amsterdam Jeremy Darveau T Louisville
21 Rhein John Glass T Rutgers
21 Cologne Trenton Jordan DE Central Florida
21 Hamburg Ryan Hamby TE Ohio State
21 Berlin Tim Clarke LB Lenoir-Rhyne
22 Berlin Mike Mendenhall DE Temple
22 Hamburg Charles Hall CB Southeastern Louisiana
22 Cologne Terrance Butler CB Wyoming
22 Rhein Cal Murray RB Miami (Ohio)
23 Rhein Mike Andrews LB Youngstown State
23 Hamburg Ezra Landry WR Southern
23 Berlin Scott Mitchell WR Kentucky
24 Hamburg Kenny Kern LB Delaware State
National Football League Europa Stories from February 26, 2007
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